Recently in River Fields Category

One week after LEO's article about Louisville's most expensive house - the $260 Million Drumanard Estate - a group of local activists called Say No to Bridge Tolls filed a request with the Kentucky Heritage Council to have the house removed from the National Register of Historic Places. We can think of about 260 Million reasons this is a good idea. You can read all about it in today's Courier article, and you won't want to miss the comments to get some of the local flavor.

For those of you who haven't been following the ORBP boondoggle; a nice old house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places 20 years ago in an effort by wealthy land owners to prevent the much needed East End Bridge from going through their estates. Because of it's "historic" designation, Kentucky was going to spend an extra $260 Million to tunnel under the property. Clearly ridiculous.

A few weeks ago, Congressman John Yarmuth hosted a Sustainability Workshop on the same day he met with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to talk about building $4.1 Billion worth of bridges in Louisville. According to a Louisville Mojo post, a number of people at the workshop had questions like this one:

"Why is the Bridges Project going forward when it's pretty much the opposite of smart growth?"

A year ago, the state legislature approved $231 M to go toward the Bridges Project, but it's taken the Governor almost a year to actually approve less than half the bonds. They indicate that it is for land acquisition, so we'll track the $s and see where they are headed.

Clearly River Fields would have objected to this move if they believed it didn't benefit them. We know what kind of influence they've had on local elected leaders, now we will see how their special interest agenda works in the judicial system.

"I cannot endure the thought of our riverfront and downtown being buried under more concrete and traffic when it took 40 years to revive the Main Street activity, riverfront and downtown reinvestment."

The year was 1994. Momentum to build an East End Bridge was continuing to build since it was first proposed in the 1960s. A newly created non-profit organization supposedly focused on downtown redevelopment and revitalization called Downtown Development Corporation released a study suggesting that Louisville didn't need an East End Bridge, but instead a downtown bridge.

Shortly after the new bridge "idea" was introduced, a small conservation group's president issued a
press releaseadvocating for the downtown bridge. The release read:

"Today River Fields Board President James S. Welch, Jr. unveiled a plan which offers a solution to both the traffic congestion and server safety problems at the Kennedy Bridge and Spaghetti Junction."

-snip-

"Welch pointed out that the new design minimizes impacts on downtown Jeffersonville and Louisville."

-snip-

"this new plan would enhance the waterfront by adding acreage to the Waterfront Park and providing additional parking areas under the ramps."

Fast forward 15 years to today. Now the past president of River Fields is Chairman of the Downtown Development Corporation, the organization that created the idea of the downtown bridge. "DDC" is still a strong supporter of the downtown bridge and its board members serve on other related organizations including the Build the Bridges Coalition and the Bi-State Bridge Authority.

The Federal Highway Administration has asked that River Fields' lawsuit be moved from Washington DC to a Kentucky court.

We're not sure what we think about this one. River Fields' reputation as obstructionists to the East End Bridge is well known, but on the other hand, the organization's political influence cannot be underestimated. We will observe with great interest.

"The lawsuit says that adding a single bridge downtown and redesigning Spaghetti Junction, where interstates 64, 65 and 71 meet near downtown, would address the region's existing and long-term traffic needs on both sides of the river."

River Fields Inc., the same small special interest group that in the last few years has opposed and delayed, mostly through lawsuits against federal, state and Metro government agencies: the Ohio River Bridges Project of Kentucky and Indiana; the rebuilding of the Harrods Creek Bridge; a sewer project on Upper River Road; and who knows what else?

In a courageous letter to the C-J, the past Director of River Fields unloads on the "obstructionist" who have championed the downtown option so fervently and selfishly for years:

'Obstructionists'

I was astounded but not surprised that the first article about River Fields ("River Fields turns 50") made no mention of the negative effect they have had on Louisville and this region's transportation system and economy. We might not be staring down the barrel of a costly "two-bridge solution" if they had not championed the downtown option so fervently and selfishly years ago.

Opposition to the East End Bridge has been their primary focus and fundraising tool for the last decade. Without their use of political, legal and strategic financial influence, the East End Bridge might be near completion today and we would have been able to focus on better and possibly less expensive, less intrusive solutions for Spaghetti Junction and I-65 cross-river traffic.